House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) today issued the following statement after a number of press reports erroneously suggested the economic growth bill passed by the House this week contains language that would somehow enable illegal immigrants to receive a tax rebate:

“The legislation that we authored, and which passed the House Tuesday with overwhelming bipartisan support, would not allow any taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegal immigrants. In fact, the bill includes language similar to the provisions included in the 2001 and 2003 tax relief bills to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving any benefits. We will take legislative action to clarify and underscore this prohibition so we can expedite the rebates to millions of eligible Americans.”

So, one loophole is closed. But the borders are still wide open, of course, and countless immigration laws remain unenforced.

Two things — first, thousands of illegals, especially visa overstayers who have real Social Security numbers, are going to get checks anyway. Secondly, why are we still barring the IRS from cooperating with the immigration authorities? That’s the real problem that needs to be fixed. The assertion that amnesty’s needed because we’ve tried to enforce the law and failed is belied by this sort of thing — we have yet to take even elementary steps to control immigration.